Sales@HitchDoc.com | (800) 446-8222 | www.HitchDoc.com SEED CARTS TRANSPORT SEED EFFICIENTLY! Transport seed efficiently in a Travis Seed Bulk Cart. With base models that can hold 275 or 375 seed units, these carts offer dual season use for spring seed transportation and fall precision weigh carts. FUEL TRAILER BRING FUEL TO YOUR EQUIPMENT, NOT YOUR EQUIPMENT TO FUEL • Bulk or Box Style • Auger or Conveyor • Bumper Pull, Gooseneck or Skid Models • Red, Green, Black, Silver or Tan • Perfect for seed retailers of all sizes! ERICK DIDN’T WANT to be a seedsman. You might say it was the furthest thing from his mind when he got into the business in 1995. “I was trying to be a mechanic by trade, originally. I basically got laid off from the job I had, and a friend of mine’s dad worked for UGG and they said they needed some help to get them through the spring, and I said I’d be inter- ested. So, I went to the inter- view and got hired on to just help out temporarily,” he says. He’s worked in forage seed ever since. “Even when I grew up on the farm when I was younger, we were mostly a cereal grain operation — really, forages never really entered the fray when I was younger. So, I began to understand what it was all about. I asked a lot of ques- tions: ‘Why are we mixing this? Why are we doing that? What’s this for?’ A skid of bromegrass would be worth a whole bin of wheat. I was like, ‘OK, wow. Why are we selling wheat?’” Know What You Stand For “Commitment to quality is hugely important if you’re going to be successful in this busi- ness. Having a quality standard that’s above what’s required is essential. That’s unwaver- ing. Your customers need to know they’re getting top-quality products. It’s taking the quality assurance standards that have been set out and imposing your own standards over and above what is required.” Give of Your Time Erick is active on the Canadian Seed Trade Association’s (CSTA) forage committee. “Membership in these organizations helps our industry have a voice. In order for these organizations to survive, you need to have volunteers to donate their time to help and be able to help them get their message across. Forage is not the size of canola, we are not the size of cereals, we are not the size of all these other parts of the seed business. For a small sector, we are an afterthought at times, and this is where organizations like the CSTA help in getting that voice heard for such a small portion of the industry.” …shaping life paths. Erick Lutterotti General Manager (Operations & Sales) Gold Medal Seeds Brooks, Alta. 32 GERMINATION.CA JANUARY 2019